Phoenix Towers – World’s New Tallest Twin Towers in China | Despite being the capital city of central China, Wuhan is little known internationally. That looks set to change, following the announcement that it will be home to the world’s tallest pair of towers. The 3,280ft (1 kilometre)-tall Phoenix Towers will dominate a newly developed 47-hectare site situated on an island in a lake that stands in the centre of Wuhan, and is intended to function as a one-of-a-kind tourist attraction.

The London-based designers Chetwoods Architects were instructed to conceive a structure that would distinguish the metropolis from other major Chinese cities; to that end, the towers are packed with unique features. One will house the world’s tallest “living wall”, a garden that grows vertically through its interior; the other will contain the world’s tallest kaleidoscope. Housed in vast globes and connected by skywalks, suspended restaurants will hover between the two.

China’s increasing wealth and the population’s growing disposable income has seen domestic tourism grow significantly in recent years, and it is anticipated that the Phoenix Towers will become one of the country’s most popular landmarks. Catering to locals who have yet to travel abroad, plazas and streets leading from the base of the buildings will house what Chetwoods Architects chief executive Laurie Chetwood calls “an embodiment” of different foreign cultures. A Turkish plaza will contain a bazaar-style market; a Japan street featuring Japanese restaurants and shops will replicate “neon rather than cherry blossom” modern-day Japan; and a France zone will include a reproduction of a typical French street.

Named Feng and Huang after two mythical Chinese birds, the towers themselves will house a mixture of offices, hotels, residential units, shops and leisure facilities.

Known as the “Manchester of China”, due to its heritage as China’s industrial heartland, and the “city of a thousand lakes”, Wuhan is also aiming to establish a reputation as an environmentally minded city. It was designated as an environmental “super city” by regional authorities and the Chinese government and the Phoenix Towers will generate their own power, recycle waste via biomass boilers and be finished with “bio-dynamic pollution-absorbing coatings”.

The £1.2 billion development is awaiting final approval from Wuhan’s mayor, with construction expected to begin next year and the towers set to be fully operational by 2018. It is one of a number of audacious new landmarks being developed across the country. An “undulating bridge” is set to ripple over the city of Changsha and a number of unique hotels, including a “groundscaping cave hotel” and “horseshoe hotel” are opening throughout the country.

Source: Telegraph Travel